The Perfect Bite

What is The Perfect Bite?

Have you ever taken that one perfect bite that makes the world stand still, awakens all your senses and makes you involuntarily say “mmmmmm!” ?

The perfect bite is like a great song. It takes you back to that moment so ingrained in your memory you’ll never forget it. You remember everything about that moment: the environment & ambience, the smile on your dining partner’s face, every detail of the conversation, the feel of the fork perched against your fingers, the aroma, and oh…exactly what your tastebuds experienced!

We first experienced the foodie world on our honeymoon 21 years ago. We spent 2 weeks in Italy and ate our way through all the new flavors that were available to us: arugula salad, fresh buffalo mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, pecorino romano, truffle oil…the list goes on. 21 years ago, those foods were not available in the US except in only the finest and most expensive Italian restaurants. How the food world has changed!

Our perfect bites have evolved through the years and now include:

The edamame dumplings at Buddakan - New York City

The heirloom tomato salad at Tra Vigne - Napa Valley

The BBQ duck & seared foie gras slider at Iron Bridge Wine Company - Columbia, MD

The tuna carpaccio at West End Bistro - Washington, DC

The BBQ Moroccan riblettes at The Dilido Beach Club - South Beach

The pan roasted salmon at Caliterra Bar & Grille - Chicago

The artisan bread with creamy butter and Hawaiian red sea salt at Farallon - San Francisco

The Brazilian pacu fish ribs at Truluck's - Naples, FL

　

We are always on a quest for the next perfect bite!

We’d like to know: what is your perfect bite?

Ringing in 2010

We’ve never been big on going out for New Year’s Eve.  We usually spend it one of three ways: 

1. enjoy an early dinner out with friends and ring in the new year in the comfort and safety of our own home;

2. go to a party at a friend’s house; or

3. invite friends over for a delicious home-cooked meal and splurge on great champagne. 

With the current state of the economy, the majority of our friends opted for choice # 3 – buying great quality foods and vintages and eating at home figuring they’d spend, at most, half what they would at a restaurant. 

We chose to go the dinner out with friends route.  We brought our college daughters, got dressed up and descended on the new kid in town – Venegas Prime Filet.  The name says it all…a steakhouse serving prime cuts of meat and more.

The space previously was also a steakhouse with a big tree in the middle of the room – needless to say, the décor back then left a lot to be desired.  Now, it’s glossy and romantic, reminiscent of Old World décor combined with New World luxuries. 

We are mesmerized by the ambience, addicted to the meats, crazy for the wine and swooning over the chocolates.

 

We consumed so much food during a 3-hour dining soirée that we couldn’t possibly tell you about every dish.  Suffice it to say that the appetizers were delicious: a lovely crabcake, crispy calamari, full-flavored tacos de pescado, and a well-rounded global cheese plate.

 

 

The salads are truly tasty with crisp, fresh ingredients and true foodie accompaniments like applewood smoked lardons, fire roasted tomatoes, dried figs, candied walnut dust, parmigiano crisp.

The Chef’s Compositions are well varied with several selections of fish and poultry.  The court bouillion-poached lobster with tarragon drawn butter is a standout.  As is the Colorado lamb with the chef’s special sauce.

 

 

But the steaks steal the show!  They are true prime cuts with great marbling cooked to perfection.  Our table boasted a selection of Filet Mignon, NY Strip, and the Big Boy – 30 oz. Australian Wagyu steak for 2.  Though the steaks were ambrosial we each chose different sauces and butters to complement them (there are 12 choices). 

  

 We topped the meal off with delicious artisan chocolates by Norman Love.  We enjoyed the single cocoa bean varieties from the 5 cocoa regions of the world:  Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela & Madagascar.  The flavor profiles were rich and indulgent pairing wonderfully with our wine selection – Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (velvety with dense flavors of black fruits and a long finish).

 

It wasn’t our first time at Venegas.  From past experience we knew this novel powerhouse would fit our foodie cravings on a special night…and they delivered!  It was a great way to start off our new year…one with many more Venegas reservations.

We wish all our dear readers a happy, healthy, successful and safe 2010 filled with lots of fun, belly laughing, love & endless Perfect Bites!

 

<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/31/1490983/restaurant/Baltimore/Columbia/Venegas-Prime-Filet-Fulton"><img alt="Venegas Prime Filet on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1490983/biglogo.gif" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px" /></a>

Say It Isn’t Snow!

There’s not much else to say today except…it’s still snowing.  Notice the amount still left on our deck yesterday (p.s. that dog is 120 lbs tall so you can see how much snow we got).  The guys worked diligently to get the deck cleared off so they could start all over again today!  Ugh!  We are so ready to move to the sunshine! 

 
 Our deck yesterday and the weather again today!

 

The only good thing to come out of today’s snow is a Snow Cone, Snowball, Shaved Ice, call it what you will…in Baltimore-DC they’re Snowballs done in a shaved ice machine – the consistency is slightly different than you find in other areas of the country, but similar in taste nonetheless.  In our house we all have a favorite: Skylite  – more a color than an actual flavor, but still sweet, and berrylicious; Pink Lemonade – especially topped with marshmallow cream; and the quintessential  Baltimore fave Egg Custard – bright orange-yellow tasting almost like a crème brûlée, believe it or not!

 

Homemade Egg Custard Snowball made this morning

 We love them in the summer (there are little stands/shacks in every nook & cranny of the area selling them – even on long, windy, sparse country roads).  In the winter when it snows the kids automatically think: Snowball – and not the kind you throw!  They love to grab some up in a cup and pour on the favored syrups.   It’s the perfect winter bite to remind us of summer!  Cheers!

Gluten Free Milestone UPDATED

December 22nd was a milestone in our home:  1 year since Darlene was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, hence 1 year since living gluten free.  Happy Anniversary to us!  Here’s what we’ve learned in a year:

 

1 out of every 133 Americans has Celiac Disease but 97% don’t yet know it.  If you experience chronic stomach problems ask your doctor to give you the genetic marker test.  A positive result means continue testing. (The antibody test can yield false negatives which was the case with Darlene.)  The gold standard for diagnosis is a deep endoscopy that goes into the duodenum.  

 

Celiac is an autoimmune disease.  Basically your body becomes malnourished because it's not able to get the vitamins it needs.  So, you would expect most Celiac sufferers to be rail thin...yeah, right!  According to Scott Adams at www.Celiac.com, 39% of Celiacs are overweight and 30% are obese.  Do the math - that leaves only 31% to be "normal" weight or underweight.  Not what one would expect.

When we made the announcement at home that we would begin eating GF our kids were quite unhappy.  What they didn't know is that most foods are inherently gluten free.  Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, fruits & vegetables are all foods we eat on a daily basis and they are all gluten free.  Good starches for Celiacs are potatoes, rice, corn & quinoa (well, we don't do quinoa in our house - we equate it with being vegetarian and Eric and is a staunch "meat & potatoes" guy!).  

So imagine our surprise when our son began stealing Darlene's food out of the fridge. He didn't know it was GF he just knew that he loved it, especially the P. F. Chang's Spicy Chicken off their GF menu.  Our 2 go-to takeout places are Chang's & Outback.  They both have great GF menus and are close by.  But Darlene doesn't trust most of the franchise restaurants because they only have line cooks who haven't been to culinary school and usually don't know what gluten is.  This works in our favor as we both love foodie restaurants anyway!

 

Living gluten free forces us to make more homemade whole foods.  A good example is BBQ sauce.  We had never bothered to make one from scratch before; now we find we can control all the ingredients for health, fat and caloric content.  Yes, your pantry will go  through a few changes but we’ve found those changes are for the better.  You'll get rid of the processed foods and use good quality foods that you can control.

 

Substituting gluten in savory recipes is simple.   If you are flouring meats or sauces just substitute rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, nut flour or one of the specialty gluten free all-purpose flour mixtures on the market today.  We take plain GF crackers and pulse them in the food processor to make panko - it's a cinch!

 

The texture and mouth feel/chew quality are different without the gluten. We personally have found that the best desserts are those containing the least amount of flour.  A GFcupcake often seems to have the texture of stale carrot cake – that doesn’t seem to be worth the calories!  But to be fair, we haven’t spent much time perfecting the technique of GF baking; we do, however, have every confidence that our daughter will perfect it for us as a culinary student.  So we tend to make desserts that require little flour like Darlene’s No Gluten Zone Brownies, which she created for Super Bowl 2009 (recipe below).  Now, brownies are not difficult to make gluten free - it's similar to a flourless chocolate cake which any chocoholic will tell you is rich in chocolate and increases your serotonin level by leap and bounds!

 
 No Gluten Zone Brownies

 

The same goes for pizza.  The crust will not have that same chewy mouth feel so we don’t try to emulate a typical pizza (tomato sauce, pepperoni, etc.)  Instead we opt for rich, savory ingredients.  Our fave so far is fig jam, caramelized onions, prosciutto & blue cheese. 

 

 

We never eat fried foods out.  The 2 times Darlene tried (even though she was assured everything was gluten free and fried in clean vats of oil) she was violently ill.  Taking the chance is just not worth it.

 

Become friendly with your neighborhood restaurants.  They are always willing to accommodate.  Our sushi restaurant, Katana, special orders jumbo lump crab to make special rolls for Darlene.  We bring in our own wheat free soy sauce (wheat free tamari) and mayonnaise and they add the appropriate spices so she can enjoy the special spicy mayo for sushi.  At Iron Bridge Wine Company Darlene pretty much makes her own meal by choosing the items on the menu she can have and they are always happy to accommodate.  And, at the revered Top Chef restaurant Volt, Bryan Voltaggio has substituted several items on his Tasting Menu to accommodate Darlene.

 
Specialty appetizer at Volt – only 1 item was substituted to make the dish gluten free.  Clockwise from bottom left: Beef Tartare, Tuna Tartare, Beet Macaroon filled with foie gras mousse, Sweet & Sour Macaroon filled with guacamole, Romaine Lettuce Macaroon filled with Caesar dressing.

 

When traveling be sure to bring snacks to keep you going until you can get real food: craisins, apples, bananas & nuts are all standard snacks that Darlene can easily slip in her handbag on the way to the airport or train station.  We also keep a box of GF crackers in the car so if we're at a restaurant that serves a "mean" cheese plate, Darlene has some crackers to complement it (life can sometimes be boring when "the cheese stands alone").

 

And, finally, we learned how to read food labels for hidden gluten, preventing cross-contamination of GF foods, and many more tidbits at www.celiac.com and www.celiac.org.

 

 

No Gluten Zone Brownies

6 oz. 70% cocoa chocolate bar

1 tbl vanilla

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup + 1 tbl gluten free flour blend (use your own favorite - I used Pamela's)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 300°.  Grease an 8"x 8" baking pan.

 

Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Do not overcook chocolate - if you are down to a few small chunks remove from heat immediately and stir until all chunks are melted and mixture is smooth.  Add vanilla and stir to incorporate.

 

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light yellow - 3-5 minutes with an electric mixer.  Add sugar and beat on low until thoroughly combined.

 

Add chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat on low until smooth.  Add ½ cup GF flour and mix thoroughly.

 

Mix chocolate chips with 1 tbl GF flour and fold into batter.

 

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool to room temperature before cutting into 2-inch squares.

 

Servings: 16

 

Snowmageddon

If you don’t live in the Mid-Atlantic region and haven’t been watching the news, then you are probably quite unaware that Snowmageddon is upon us…and isn’t done yet!  Where we are, between DC & Baltimore, we have over 3 feet of snow with another 10-20 inches forecasted for tomorrow night.  The snowbanks in our neighborhood are already over 5 feet tall…we don’t have anyplace left to put the stuff!  We can’t possibly get more!

 

 

 But more than Mother Nature’s plan for an area that is really unequipped to deal with such storms as they are few and far between, we are perplexed by the residents of the area.  This storm had been forecasted for a week – everyone knew it was coming and emptied out the grocery stores.  Yet, on Sunday, the 1^st day people could safely leave their homes, they ran to the grocery stores.  Our friends Becky and Kerry (who, incidentally are leaving for the Atlantis tomorrow and will miss the next onslaught of Mother Nature) ventured out on Sunday and reported that there was a major traffic jam at our grocery store.  What?  The shelves were empty on Friday, people, did you only buy enough food for 3 days? 

 

We were prepared.  We had done a complete week’s worth of shopping on Thursday, but did go back to the grocery store on Friday when we were informed that our teenage son was having a few buddies over for the weekend.  We knew one week’s worth of food wouldn’t be enough for even 1 night when growing teenage boys were involved.  On Friday morning the vegetable bins were bare, the store was a mess and out of many items. 

 

So here’s the real question:  Why did shoppers think the grocery store shelves were suddenly stocked when the highways were closed and there was no way for the food to actually get here?  He-llo!!!!

 

As we said, we were fine.  We shoveled, we cooked, we ate, we drank.  We enjoyed lots of wine especially our beloved Black Chicken and Le Bijou!  Plus, we enjoyed lots and lots of hot chocolate.  We love it spicy!  Our friend Terri was recently in the Big Apple and ventured to the 35^th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.  She enjoyed the house specialty – spicy white hot chocolate – while enjoying an aerial view of Central Park.  She raved about this sweet, piquant concoction and was ready to order another, but alas, she was kicked out because the Black-Eyed Peas were coming in and the bar would be closed to the public.  Fergie, hope your spicy white hot chocolate was Fergalicious!

 

 

 Perfect Sip – Quick Spiced Hot Chocolate

Make an 8-oz. cup of hot chocolate however you choose, homemade or instant

Add 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/8 tsp chili powder.

Add a large marshmallow and you’re set to enjoy!

 

One Branzino, Two Branzini, Three Branzini, Yum!

This post may be a little long today as we have much to tell you!

Branzino (a European sea bass) is one of Darlene’s most favorite fish.  We first had it in Italy back in ’88.  After that we were on a quest to find it in the States.  We searched high and low and finally found it at a Greek fish restaurant in the Fell’s Point section of Baltimore at a little place called The Black Olive.  It’s small, warm, inviting and the owners are just adorable!  Actually, they come from a long line of Greek restaurateurs.  One cousin is the brains behind the famed Estiatorio Milos  in NY, Montréal & Athens.  (If you go, be sure to get the Milos special appetizer, the tomato salad, and any fish you desire – you won’t be disappointed!).

 

Fast forward to our purchase of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home. 

 

 

For those of you who don’t know who Thomas Keller is – he is considered to be the true Top American Chef.  His restaurant The French Laundry in Napa Valley is widely thought to be the #1 restaurant in the country.  The kitchen sounds in the movie Ratatouille are authentic sounds made in the kitchen of The French Laundry.  We have eaten there once and, yes, it was an incredibly decadent meal in addition to being the most expensive meal we have ever had – but worth every cent!

 

 

Ad Hoc is Keller’s family-style restaurant, also in Napa Valley.  The corresponding cookbook features meals prepared at the restaurant and meals Keller prepares at home and boasts a section on How to Become a Better Cook.  It’s a great read, the pictures make you want to grab the food right off the book and eat, and the recipes are straightforward, though some can be time-consuming.  After our first perusal of the book, we immediately decided we’d be making the salt-crusted striped bass. This method of cooking fish is common in Italy and produces a really moist fish that’s perfectly seasoned (and it doesn’t stink up the house!).

 

So we headed over to Whole Foods where they only had small Branzini that day.  We bought 3 one-pounders, had the fishmonger clean them up for us and headed home to become Keller’s Mini-me’s. 

 

 

Aren’t they beautiful?  Don’t they look succulent and tasty?  Don’t you wish you could have some right now?  The fish was every bit as delicious as in any restaurant and the recipe was straightforward and simple even if we did have to adjust it a bit since we had 3 one-pound fish rather than 1 four-pound fish.

 

 

In any event, we hope you garner enough courage to try this recipe.  We served it alongside his broccolini salad with burrata cheese.  Add a crisp white wine like Santa Maria La Palma’s Aragosta Vermentino di Sardegna - light-bodied white, aromas of lemon and lime, goes perfectly with seafood; or Chahalem’s Inox Chardonnay (stainless steel tank fermented) – rich & full of light fruits, with a crisp, zesty finish.  We enjoy this wine all year long. Cheers!

 

 

 

Salt-Crusted Striped Bass

Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

 3 one-pound branzini – gutted, scaled, fins cut off

4 cups kosher salt

8 large egg whites

½ bunch flat-least parsley

fronds from 1 fennel bulb

1 lemon, sliced thin

1 small orange, sliced thin

evoo

 

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Stir together the salt & egg whites in a large bowl.  Make a layer of the salt mixture just over ¼ inch thick on a baking sheet.

 

Stuff the fish cavity with parsley, fennel fronds, and fruit slices.  Lay the fish on top of the salt mixture on the baking sheet.  Take the remaining salt mixture and cover the top of the fish entirely, making sure the fish are completely covered in salt.  Use a paper towel to pat the crust to remove excess moisture.

 

Roast fish for 30-40 minutes (turn the pan 180° halfway through cooking).  Insert instant read thermometer into thickest part of middle fish – when it reads 125°F remove the fish from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

 

To serve:  Using either 2 large spoons or a fish fork and large spoon crack the crust breaking it into large pieces and remove from the top and sides of the fish.  Remove the skin by gently rolling it off the meat.  The top fillet is now exposed and can be lifted right off the bone.  Next, lift the tail of the fish pulling toward the head to remove the skeleton. Lift the bottom fillet off the baking sheet.  A pastry brush can be used to gently brush away any salt that remains.  Drizzle with some evoo and enjoy.

 

Broccolini Salad with Burrata cheese

Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

 2 lb. broccolini, thick part of stalks removed

2 large Portobello mushroom caps, sliced thin

1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings

1 cup black Cerignola olives (or other cured olives) sliced

½ cup vinaigrette (your own choice, Keller used Sherry vinegar)

salt & pepper to taste

2 large rounds of burrata cheese (like fresh mozzarella, but loose & creamy inside)

evoo

sea salt (we used Sicilian)

 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Prepare an ice bath (large bowl of water and ice).

 

Blanch the broccolini in the bling water until crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes.  Transfer to the ice bath to stop the cooking.  Drain on paper towels.

 

Gently toss the broccolini with 2/3 of the vinaigrette then place on a platter all lined up.  Gently toss the mushrooms with the remaining vinaigrette and sprinkle over the broccolini.  Sprinkle the onion and olives on top.

 

Place the burrata in a shallow bowl.  Cut away the top nub of the burrata and using a pair scissors cut an X into the top until you reach the creamy center.  Open the top slightly and drizzle evoo inside.  Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and serve alongside the broccolini.

 

Goin’ to Tuscany in my Mind

 
 

The snow has been coming and going for 2 months now.  Every time we think it’s gone Mother Nature tricks us and adds another pile on the ground.  If we can’t beat it we may as well just accept it and do what the cold weather people do: read by the fire, drink spicy, delicious, full-bodied red wine to help take the chill out of our bones, and put on the crock pot filled to brimming with a rib-sticking, hearty recipe to offer pure comfort.

 

Our choice of winter comfort food often leans toward Italian – namely ragu - a wonderful meat sauce typically paired with short pasta like penne or rigatoni. We did have penne in the pantry for the boys, but the only gluten free pasta we had on hand for Darlene was fusilli (not a good pasta shape for Ragu, but works in a pinch). 

 

We first learned to make this recipe 20 years ago when Darlene’s college roommate married an authentic Italian.  And, like all Italians, Pino could cook!  Through the years he’s taught us many dishes, but the ragu is still our fave! 

 
 

We usually make it in a large stockpot and cook it down for several hours on the stove.  Sometimes we take the lazy way out and put our crock pot to good use.  It doesn’t matter how you make it, it just matters that you do make it.  Ragu is a family favorite in our house – Grandpa can eat it every day.   So get your stove going, add a bottle of Barbera D’Alba (we recommend Elio Altare: fruit forward, soft tannins, long finish), freshly grated Reggiano Parmigiano, a vibrant salad with a crisp, clean vinaigrette and you’ve got all the makings for your next perfect bite.  Cheers!

 
 

 

Ragu

½ cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 ribs celery, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

4 large cloves garlic

2 lb. chuck roast

4 good size country style pork spare ribs

2 small cans tomato paste

6  28-oz cans San Marzano tomatoes, crush whole tomatoes with your hands

2 large bay leaves

2 tbl Italian seasoning (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano &  basil)

salt & pepper to taste

 

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat.  Sauté onion, celery & carrots with salt & pepper until lightly browned (about 5 minutes).  Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more.  Do not let garlic get too dark or it will impart a bitter taste.  Using slotted spoon remove vegetable mixture from pan and put in blender or food processor.  Pulse until mixture becomes a paste.

 

Add chuck roast and spare ribs to pan and brown on all sides…don’t be shy.  Once browned, remove meat and set aside.

 

Add the tomato paste and stir into the hot oil, in essence you are sautéing the tomato paste.  (At this point, all ingredients can go into crock pot.  If you are cooking over the stovetop, continue with the next step.)

 

Add the San Marzano tomatoes, bay leaves and Italian seasoning, stir, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

 

Once simmering, add the vegetable paste and meat back to the pan.  Reduce heat to low and cover with lid slightly askew.  Cook for 2 – 4 hours until the liquid is reduced by half (or to your own desired consistency).  Be sure to stir about every 15 minutes…you don’t want it to stick otherwise it will be bitter.

 

Remove meat and shred with forks, removing any large chunks of fat.

 

This meal can be served 2 ways:

We add the meat back to the sauce and serve over pasta as a main dish.

True Italian style is to serve the sauce over the pasta as a small first course, then serve the meat as a second course alongside a vegetable like a sautéed rapini with garlic, then serve salad as the third course.

 

The recipe yields a lot, but we always freeze the remainder for another 1 or 2 meals.

For the Love of Farms

We love farmers’ markets.  If you’ve never been to one we highly recommend it.  It’s so much fun walking down the aisles looking at the gorgeous bounty of produce and home-baked goodies – even farm-fresh eggs. 

 

So when we learned about the Public Market Complex in St. John’s, Antigua, we just had to go.  We were curious to see how it would differ from those we’ve been to at home.  The Public Market is located at the intersection of Market St., Valley Rd., & All Saints Rd.  Across the street are the Antigua Fisheries and the Public Meat Market.

 

 

Located just outside is a massive bronze bust of V.C. Bird the former Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda.

 

The lively market is filled with noise and excitement; it’s open weekdays, but the best time to visit is Saturday morning when vendors from all over the island appear with local produce.  The colors, shapes & sizes are truly tropical!  The open-air market is bustling with activity as local residents come to do their shopping.

 

The streets around the actual building are lined with tables and carts overflowing with a variety of fresh and colorful Antiguan fruits and vegetables, specialty imported canned goods, clothing & crafts as far as the eye can see.  Everyone is friendly unless you have a camera, then they are suspect. 

 

The most beautiful display we found was a table filled with sorrel.  Our taxi driver Hillie told us sorrel is a dried hibiscus flower used to make a popular Caribbean drink during the holidays.  According to Hillie, sorrel tea has medicinal qualities and is loved by adults and children alike.  During the holidays, the adults add rum (what else?) to the tea. 

 
Gorgeous, colorful sorrel

 

She was gracious enough to give us her recipe though the measurements aren’t exact.  We look forward to trying it.  Cheers!

 

Hillie’s Caribbean Sorrel Tea

1 cup sorrel

1 tsp cloves

1 tbl minced ginger

1 cup simple syrup (1 cup water boiled with 1 sup sugar)

1 tsp orange zest (optional)

dark rum (optional)

 

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil.  Add sorrel, cloves and ginger (and optional zest).

Boil for 30 minutes then remove from heat.

Cover and steep overnight (or up to 24 hours – it will thicken as it steeps).

Strain the tea and add the simple syrup.  The consistency will be thick and syrupy.

Chill.

To serve:  for children add club soda

                 for adults add club soda and rum

 

Find Your Place in the Sun

Did you miss us?  We’ve been gone a bit because we were traveling.  We found our perfect place in the sun – Antigua.  Ahhhhhh…the warm sun rays kissed our skin and warmed us to the bones.  But, we returned to the cold against our better judgment (if only we didn’t have so many responsibilities…). 

 

Now those weather “experts” are calling for more snowy weather.  We have a foolproof plan to think “warm” and remind us of our very recent trip to Antigua.  We’ll get the fireplace roaring, put on shorts, and break out the blender!

 

Meet Althea & Omarie.  They were our bartenders at the pool bar – and they blend a mean drink or 2…or 20.

   

 Althea balancing her Althea’s Special & Omarie showing off his Tropical Rainbow

 

We enjoyed a very lazy day relaxing in the pool, reading in the cabana, playing organized games like “Name That Tune” and drinking icy cold concoctions to loosen up and cool down!

 
Floating around:  Darlene’s sister Sheila, her husband Fred, & friend Lisa

 

 

 The sumptuously luxurious poolside cabana

 

The bar was one hopping spot. 1 side is a walk up and the remaining 3 are poolside with underwater stools. 6 bartenders are kept busy all day every day…so they’re fast and they really know their drinks. We spent a fair amount of time just sitting in the water talking to each other and our bartenders who were so much fun.

 

They were kind enough to give us their recipes.  Most are original creations from their bar (Sandals Grande Antigua).  They don’t measure they just pour and blend.  Try these recipes to send your senses off to the Caribbean and when you’ve polished them off, make up your own concoctions.

 

Cheers!

 

 
Althea’s Special

Apple Pucker

Peach Schnapps

White Rum

Passion Fruit Juice

Pineapple Juice

Simple Syrup

Ice

Tropical Rainbow

Vodka

Peach Schnapps

Banana Liqueur

Passion Fruit Juice

Grenadine

Ice

 

Bob Marley

Passion Fruit Juice

Strawberry Juice

Apple Pucker

Ice

 

 

 Chocolate Monkey

Chocolate Syrup

Banana

Rum

Crème de Cacao

Amaretto (optional)

Ice

 

 
Bananarama

Milk

Banana

White Rum

Coconut Cream

Blue Curaçao

Ice

 

 

 
Banana Sip Sop

Dark Rum

Coconut Milk

Grenadine

Banana

Ice

 

McLaren Vale South Australia “Where the vines meet the Sea”

By Sharon Kneebone

 

In 1999 we returned to South Australia to visit my husband’s family and ring in the new Millennium.   For those fans of big, bold Australian red wines you most likely know that South Australia is home to the Barossa Valley and the McLaren Vale.  My in-laws live about 20 minutes from the beautiful Barossa and about 40 minutes north of the McLaren Vale.   We had been to the Barossa a couple of times and wanted to visit a different wine region.  We left the kids with Nana and Papa and headed south for a couple days away. 

  Sharon & Scott Kneebone

 

We stayed at the Inn at the McLarens, just down the street from the McLaren Vale Visitor Center. The Inn was the quintessential Aussie motel complete with inexpensive spacious rooms and a tin roof.  It was a great staging area to visit the vale’s cellar doors.  We spent the day sampling wines of the vale with a stop at Chapel Hill Cellar Door, a lovely sampling room set in a converted Australian chapel.

 

The Inn at the McLarens

 

One of our favorite wineries is Tintara, part of the Hardys family.  We purchased the Hardys world class Whiskers Blake Port there and have shared it judiciously with our close friends.  One of our favorite Shiraz wines is Tintara.  It is a full-bodied bold Aussie wine that is characteristic of the McLaren Vale region.  By far, our favorite wine maker from the McLaren Vale is Molly Dooker.  It is now widely available in the States and we’ve introduced it to all of our friends.

 

After a full day of touring the vale we had a wonderful dinner at the Barn Bistro.  One of the specials that evening was Kangaroo Steak cooked to perfection.  The Barn is a historic building housing a fine Australian Restaurant in the McLaren Vale. Far and away, my favorite site was cresting a hill with sloping vines to my left, a kangaroo bounding between the rows, and the sight of the ocean in the distance.

 

My favorite view – the ocean is off to the right.

 

The trek to the McLaren Vale is well worth the time, expense and effort.  Some of the world’s greatest Shiraz wines come from the area with an abundance of fresh Australian food.

 

"It is an ideal spot, and the ideal liquid inspiration, to try to figure out a way to live near this tiny piece of paradise between the voluptuous hills of wine
and the aquamarine sea."                                --The Wine Roads of Australia by Susan Gough Henly

Sharon and Scott Kneebone live in Baltimore, Maryland with their 2 children.  Besides Shiraz, they like lacrosse, musical theatre, and entertaining friends.

Visions of Cinnamon

For years we would stay up late on Christmas Eve while we put our little balls of energy to bed waiting for them to fall asleep (yeah, right!) so we could get to work.  We’d sit and wait for an hour because any noise at all brought out the chorus of “was that Him?” to which we’d always answer “the sooner you fall asleep the sooner Santa will come.”  Once we were assured those visions of sugar plums were dancing away we were finally able to begin the work:  get the presents out of hiding and stack under the tree; partially eat and drink the cookies and hot chocolate; stack wood in the fireplace so it’s ready to light at dawn; prepare the coffee pot; make breakfast…that’s right, breakfast. 

 

When the pitter patter of feet sounded like rhinos running to our room at o-500 hours we knew there was no stopping the little gremlins who would rule our world all morning.  Eric went downstairs to “make sure Santa was gone” and he’d push the “brew” button, preheat the oven, light the fire, and turn on the tree lights while Darlene was upstairs in bed playing “tickle” to keep the gremlins occupied for a few more minutes.  We’d get breakfast in the oven grab our much-needed cups o’Joe and finally enter the land of screaming, gasping and flying wrapping paper. 

 

 

When the chaos subsided, breakfast was ready…and oh what a breakfast it was.  The first time we made this “casserole” for convenience.  It was such a hit that we had to continue the tradition or the kids would be disappointed.  Yesterday, at 19 and 16 years old, the kids awoke at 9:30 to the smell of cinnamon, coffee and burning embers, opened their gifts (no screaming or gasping, but still flying wrapping paper), then sat down to their favorite Christmas breakfast.  We hope you try it on your family – we think they’ll be happy!

 

 

Easy Christmas Morning GF Cinnamon French Toast

We have been making this recipe for years.  It’s simple, delicious, and parent-friendly on Christmas morning.  This “casserole” sits in the refrigerator overnight so it’s ready to bake while everyone is opening gifts. 

2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 sticks butter

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 loaf gluten free bread

1-1/2 cups half & half

1-1/2 cups milk

6 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

 

Melt the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat.

Grease a 9”x 13” pan.  We will make 3 layers: make a layer of bread slices to cover the bottom of pan and drizzle one-third of the cinnamon butter over the bread spreading with a knife to try to cover as much of the bread as possible.  (You won’t cover every bit, but don’t worry.)  Repeat 2 more times.

Beat the 4 remaining ingredients together until light and fluffy and pour over the layers of bread.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

On Christmas morning preheat the oven to 350°F.  Remove the “casserole” from the refrigerator and place on a baking sheet.

Bake covered for 1 hour.  Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or so, until the custard is set but the top layer of bread isn’t dried out.   Cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares.  Syrup is optional.

Yields: 8 servings